Cookin' up local food industry
Incubator kitchen expert coming Sept. 15

Help will soon be available for those who are interested in connecting with buyers for local homemade food items.

It's just the latest step in a farreaching series of public/ private partnerships being developed to support agriculture and a "back to the land" movement in and around Potter County.

Supporters envision a community facility where producers can prepare jams and jellies, maple syrup, cherry butter, herb mixes, baked goods and other food items.

"Who knows where this could lead?" said Mitch Delong, one of the organizers. "For all we know, this kitchen could launch the next Hidden Valley Ranch."

A free workshop on the Shared Incubator Kitchen will be held on Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Coudersport High School LGI Room. Guest speaker will be Dr. Cameron Wold, an authority on commercial incubator kitchens from Colorado Christian University.

Registration starts at 8:15 and the session runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a one-hour break at noon. The afternoon agenda will include an informal question and answer period and open forum.

State laws covering packaging, labeling, quality testing, safety, content and processing often discourage local producers from selling their goods. With the shared incubator kitchen, growers and producers can meet the state regulations while receiving help with promotion.

This could eventually be tied in with opportunities for national and even international marketing of locally produced merchandise, including woodcrafts.

Dr. Wold's visit is funded by the Pa. Dept. of Community and Economic Development, through a Pa. First Industries Agricultural Planning Grant, as well as the Appalachian Regional Commission, through its Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.

The kitchen is one component of the local "Food Matrix" initiative. Other elements have moved forward: Community-Sustained Agriculture (CSA), where consumers partner with local farmers for a season's worth of chemical-free produce; and the Farmers Market, where products are marketed at the courthouse square in Coudersport and in Galeton's John Collins Park.

Organizers of the Food Matrix recently applied to the Pa. Dept. of Community and Economic Development for a grant that would help tie together the many aspects of promoting and supporting local agriculture.

The group is also eying a property along U.S. Rt. 6, east of Coudersport, to develop a Food Matrix center that would be open to the public. It could develop into a tourist attraction, spotlighting local food production, wood crafts and other local, land-based businesses.

Several Food Matrix volunteers are also involved in an Agriculture Heritage Alliance that has been formed as part of the Pennsylvania Wilds tourist promotion campaign. This is a multicounty organization, similar in focus to the Emporium-based Lumber Heritage Region.